Sadness - Gypsy RIP c. 1 January 1995 to 24 January 2011

It's the mum here. It is with much sadness that I have to inform you that Gypsy passed away yesterday morning, Monday 24 January 2011.

He has been bravely battling CRF and more recently Pancreatitis, but yesterday was his time. He had a really bad night and I knew when I saw him in the morning that it was time. His little body just needed to rest. We went on one last trip to the v-e-t and he passed away in my arms around 10:15 that morning.

I'm missing him more than I can say right now, and I'll post a better tribute to him later on. For now, Vale Gypsy. You will always be my 'big guy'.

Sunday Snoozing with Updates!

Hi kitties, it's Gypsy here. Well the Cat Grass we planted last Sunday is actually growing. Here's a picture of me watching over it:
Mum had been a bit worried when she couldn't see anything shooting up out of the ground on Tuesday, but we told her to be patient. Sure enough, by Thursday there were lots of little bits of grass shooting out of the ground - even Mum could see them. We might look into adding to our garden next week - there's some Cat Nip seeds on standby...

Hey big bro, move over, it's Tasha here. It's a bit late, but I wanted to post a picture of some mail that our Sydney furriends, Fui and Suey, sent to us:


You see, we entered a Footy Tipping Competition that they ran to pick the winner of the National Rugby League Grand Final. The Melbourne Storm were battling the Parramatta Eels (featuring Fui Fui's namesake). Since we're from Melbourne, we had to pick the Storm to win, and they did! Fui and Suey very kindly made a donation to the RSPCA (who help lots of animals) on our behalf, and then sent us this lovely card and some scrumptious Temptations. Thanks so much Fui and Suey.

Ready for more Weekend Cat Blogging:

Weekend Cat Blogging

#233 Nov 21-22 Samantha Black & Mr Tigger at Life From a Cat’s Perspective

(see the week’s& host to enter your WCB post in the comments for the weekend roundup)

Bad Kitty Cats Festival of Chaos

Edition 110 Dec 06, 2009

Kashim & Othello and Salome

(submit your post here)

The Carnival of the Cats

#297 – Pet’s Garden Blog

(submit your post here)

Easy on Sunday (with Gardening!)

Hi there, it's Tasha here with an update. I went to the v-e-t yesterday to have my final FIV+ booster vaccination, and had to get on the scales again. Now, when I had my annual check-up 4 weeks ago, I weighed 5.1 kgs. At that time, the otherwise nice v-e-t made remarks about how I could lose a little weight - rubbish I said! But I've been exercising a bit more since then, and not eating quite so much in the crazy hot weather we're having at the moment, and at yesterday's weigh-in, I came in at a svelte 4.85 kg. I'd lost 0.25 kg in 4 weeks!

The v-e-t was pleased but said that I could afford to lose another 0.25 kg. Sheesh! There's no pleasing some people. I guess I can lose a bit more, so we'll see...

My other announcment - We finally got Mum to plant our Cat Grass seeds in some real dirt today, so maybe we can join the ranks of the Society of Feline Gardeners. We're rank amateurs compared to the purresident, Jonesie, but we'll see how we go.

Here's a picture of me checking out our new Cat Grass:

Hey little sister, now don't hog the whole blog. It's Gypsy here, just letting everyone know that there were 2 kitties snoopervising our new crop of Cat Grass. Here's a shot of me in action:


It's exhausting being in charge!

For more great Cat Blogging over the weekend:

Weekend Cat Blogging

#232 Nov 14-15 Breadchick and LB at The Sour Dough

(see the week’s& host to enter your WCB post in the comments for the weekend roundup)

Bad Kitty Cats Festival of Chaos

Edition 110 Dec 06, 2009

Kashim & Othello and Salome

(submit your post here)

The Carnival of the Cats

#296 – Artsy Catsy

(submit your post here)

Three New Things Meme (We're Back!)

Finally, we're back to post on our beloved blog. We can't believe how long it's taken our Mum to get back in the groove and find some time to post for us. Mum is still away from home lots during the week 'cos of a long commute to work, but she's making some time for our blog.

Here are photos of us in case anycat forgot what we look like:

This is me, Gypsy:

And this is me Tasha:



To help our Mum get back into things slowly, we're going to finally post a Meme that we were given a while ago...

We were tagged by that Gorgeous Ginger, China Cat, for Tigmut'hep's 3 New Things about Me Meme!

It's nice and simple, all you need to do is tell everyone 3 things that are new with you! Link it back to me and the purrson who gave it to you and pass it on to 3 more kitties you'd like to know more about! :)
~~~~~
Here are our 3 New Things:

1. Our weather just turned hot here, so it it's a warm rest of November for us. Mum says the temperature will be over 30 degrees celsius for most of the next week. We'll be 'flat out' in a cool spot if anyone's looking for us...

2. Gypsy: I had a health scare and was limping badly a couple of months ago - possibly partly because some clumsy person tripped over me...But I'm doing okay now - Mum had to give me some goooood painkillers for a while, and neither of us enjoyed that process. They did the job of helping me get back to being mobile...when I don't sleep.

3. Tasha: I just like being my cute and floofy self, although I'd like to get out more. At the moment I've under restrictions while I get vaccinated for FIV - Mum says that I've got to stay near her when I'm outside until I've finished the course. I like to be be cheeky with my big brother and play / fight with him just when he wants to climb up on the bed to go to sleep...hehehehehe

We won't tag anyone since this has been around for quite a while and a lot of kitties will have done it. However, if anycat wants to play, feel free to go for it!

For more great Cat Blogging over the weekend:

Weekend Cat Blogging #231 Nov 07-08 Diamond & Tristan at Digicats(see the week’s& host to enter your WCB post in the comments for the weekend roundup)

Bad Kitty Cats Festival of ChaosEdition 110 Dec 06, 2009Kashim & Othello and Salome(submit your post here)

The Carnival of the Cats#295 – Nikita’s Place(submit your post here)

Wordy Wednesday...

Hi friends, it's Gypsy here, just touching base with all of our friends. We've been offline for various reasons since Mum had her car accident, but she's promised that she's gonna help us blog more now. We've laid down the law, so she knows what she has to do now, or else...

We are very grateful to all of our furriends who've dropped by and said hi - we're sorry if we didn't get to say thanks to everyone purrsonally, but we have appreciated everyone's kind words.

Today, we found out that we won Moki's raffle, which was set up to help raise money for this brave little guy. Thanks Moki! Little Moki still needs lots of treatment to help him, so if you have any spare green (or any other colour) papers, please drop by his blog and help his family out with a donation - we know that they'd appreciate it. Even if the green (and other coloured) papers are a bit tight, we know that Moki and his family would also appreciate moral support (including purrs) from all of us.

It was only a few weeks ago that we won a lovely blanket from Percy and the Cats Stephens, in another raffle, which was to help raise money for Percy to have one of his toes amputated. Percy is going to have his operation in October, so we reckon that he and his family would also appreciate support and purrs from us, and anyone else who has the time to drop by.


We're very grateful for our furriends, and we're glad to help a little bit, but most of all we just want our furriends to get better.


There'll be photos back on the blog soon, just as soon as our incomp...oh, sorry Mum, didn't see you there...as I was saying, there'll be photos back on the blog as soon as someone downloads that good ones from the camera (like, it's not rocket science...however!...). The little squirt, AKA my sister Tasha is itching to have a go on the blog now, so see you later furriends!

Hi everyone, it's Tasha here, just pushing in to say hi to all of our furriends, especially the tabby and ginger ones...we'll be able to catch up properly now that Mum understands she has to let us blog and talk to our online furriends..so until then, purrs to all!

We're Back!

It's Gypsy here, to say that we're finally back! As for why we've been away, well our Mum's been really busy at work (or so she said) for the last 6 weeks or so. I can vouch that she's been working something like a squillion hours each week at work, which has seriously cramped our blogging style.

Then last Monday (31 March), our Mum was in a car accident with our little red Toyota Corolla. Mum's still pretty sore, but we're glad that she walked away 'cos the car can't be fixed - it was an older car, and was badly damaged by the impact.

Mum's getting public transport to work now, but it's a bit tough for us cats 'cos we don't get as much outside time as we'd like right now...but we're gonna get through this okay over the next few months.

Hey, it's Tasha here, just saying that while I'm missing our outside time, I'm really glad that Mum will be completely okay in a few weeks. Gypsy and I have been purring and snuggling really hard to help her get better, and we think that it's working. Mum said that we'll get another car eventually, but it'll probably be a few months before that happens. There aren't any photos today, as Mum's right hand is pretty sore still from the accident, and she uses that hand to do everything like take photos, and type (our commenting will be a bit sparse for a little while). We'll get around to see everyone soon...

Gypsy - Easy Like Sunday

Hi kitties and others out there in the blogosphere, it's Gypsy here...thinking about what I need to do the feathery wand...once I rest up and gather my strength...

For more weekend Cat Blogging goodness:

Board the Friday Ark at The Modulator (submit your post here)

Weekend Cat Blogging i#142 Feb 23-24: Bad Kitty Cats (see the week’s& host to enter your WCB post in the comments for the weekend roundup)

Bad Kitty Cats Festival of Chaos 02-24-2008 Mz. Mog & Kitty Cats at Mind of Mog Optional Theme - CatNip Or Treats (submit your post here)

The Carnival of the Cats #206 2/24/08 is going to House of the (Mostly) Black Cats (submit your post here)

Gypsy & Tasha - Wordless Wednesday

Gypsy - Mancat Monday

It's Gypsy here, proving to the world that I am capable of bathing myself, in spite of what people might have thought after yesterday's post. Now, some might say that it looks like I need to work on my abs a little more, but my answer is that camera angles can be deceptive. Anyway, isn't it a known fact that the camera adds 10 pounds? That's my story and I'm sticking to it!

By the way, if you're a Mancat (i.e. a male cat of any age), you can join the M-Cats Club - just follow the link and leave a comment.

Gypsy and Tasha - Easy like Sunday

Gypsy here...The combatants face-off - what's going to happen next?

Tasha says "You missed a spot big brother!". After I gave him the run around last weekend, (those two blurs that you saw in the photo were Gypsy and I - I was the one tagging him!) I thought that I'd take it easy on him today, although I always like to make sure that he's looking respectable.

For more great cat blogging over the weekend:

Board the Friday Ark at The Modulator (submit your post here)

Weekend Cat Blogging #140 Feb 9-10 Valentine’s Edition: Kashim & Othello (moved from Paulchen’s)(see the week’s& host to enter your WCB post in the comments for the weekend roundup)

Bad Kitty Cats Festival of Chaos Edition 31 - 02-10-2008 Mom Robyn & The Hotties at Cat Blogosphere Optional Theme - Cats In Sinks (submit your post here)

The Carnival of the Cats #203 - Pet and the Bengal Brats at Pet’s Garden Blog Sunday Evening(submit your post here)

Tasha - Formerly Feral Friday & Tribute to Ginger

It's Tasha, taking a turn on the blog at last...some brothers (not mentioning any names of course) are such blog hogs. I may be a little cheeky sometimes, but deep down I am very thankful that I get to live here and get looked after so well.

Today I thought that I would post a tribute to a very sick kitty called Ginger who went to the Rainbow Bridge last Friday, February 1. This is a photo of that little kitty that Mum took with her phone, so it's not great, but you can see what he looked like.

Mum's friend Amelia found him near the place where they both work. It's in an inner city suburb, but the building is actually on the Yarra River, so there is some vegetation around. Amelia loves animals like Mum, and has two kitties and two dogs at home. There was another local kitty (with collar and tag) keeping Ginger company when Amelia found him, which we thought was a very nice thing to do. Ginger was a small medium-to-long haired ginger kitty, without any collar. Mum said that little Ginger was extremely thin, and had been sick for some time. He was very weak, but he did drink some water that day. Amelia took him to visit her regular vet that afternoon to see if anything could be done to help him. There were some tests done, but the sad truth was that Ginger had been very sick for a long time, and there wasn't anything that the vet could do save him. The nice vet lady said that poor Ginger probably wouldn't survive the night, so Amelia made the difficult decision to have him put to sleep humanely, instead of suffering any more. Both Amelia and Mum were sad that he's gone, but glad that he wasn't suffering any more. As for me, well, I'm very glad that there are people who love animals and help them when they need a helping paw.

For more great cat blogging over the weekend:

Board the Friday Ark at The Modulator (submit your post here)

Weekend Cat Blogging #140 Feb 9-10 Valentine’s Edition:Kashim & Othello (moved from Paulchen’s)(see the week’s& host to enter your WCB post in the comments for the weekend roundup)

Bad Kitty Cats Festival of Chaos Edition 31 - 02-10-2008Mom Robyn & The Hotties at Cat BlogosphereOptional Theme - Cats In Sinks (submit your post here)

The Carnival of the Cats #203 -Pet and the Bengal Brats at Pet’s Garden Blog Sunday Evening(submit your post here)

Gypsy - Wordy Wednesday

It's Gypsy here...well Mum finally fixed up Monday's post tonight so that you can see the music player and listen to the music. I was starting to think that I might have to advertise for someone to help me blog who has proven HTML skills. As I was contemplating demoting Mum from Blog Assistant to being just plain Mum, she FINALLY got the player to work properly. I think that I'll keep her on to help me blog, 'cos she obviously needs the practice...

All that work helping Mum fix my blog has left me exhausted...as you can see.

Gypsy - Mancat Monday & Across The Universe Day

It's Gypsy here, getting ready to look my best for the big Across The Universe moment. Karl at The Cat Realm has tagged everycat for Across the Universe Day. They were tagged by Chris, long story here, short one below:

"NASA has invited people around the world to play “Across the Universe” on their audio systems at the same time (February 4, 2008, at 00:00 GMT = 7:00 p.m. New York /EST) NASA beams its mp3 version into outer space. And I quote Chris: "Bloggers, let’s do this! This blog got the track ready. I also added Fiona Apple’s version and Beatles’ Here Comes The Sun to the playlist. You can add the playlist to your blog or site, I’ve included its code below. Please invite other bloggers as well to join the celebration."

NB Gypsy's Mum here - apologies for not quite getting this post finished before loading it anyway. We've got some sort of HTML issue that I'll have to fix later - when I work out what the problem is, but we are a bit behind with the Across The Universe Day post anyway, as we're 10 hours ahead of GMT.

Further Update from Gypsy's Mum (Wednesay 6 Feb) - Finally fixed the problem (missing HTML tag) with a bit of help from seeing how other bloggers had loaded this player - Gypsy was starting to threaten to advertise for a new mother with proven HTML skills...just as well I finally got this fixed!!

Gypsy & Tasha - Easy Like Sunday?!?

It's Gypsy here, exhausted...if you're wondering why just read on:

One of the blurs in that photo is me, and the other, well, here's a better shot:

Sheesh!

For more Cat Blogging, check these out:

Board the Friday Ark at The Modulator (submit your post here)

Weekend Cat Blogging is being held by Katie and Puddy at A Byootaful Life (see the week’s& host to enter your WCB post in the comments for the weekend roundup)

Bad Kitty Cats Festival of Chaos is at Megan & Zed Monster at Bad Kitty Festival HomeOptional Theme - Mardi Gras Edition (submit your post here)

The Carnival of the Cats is going to be with the "Meowers of Death" at When Cats Attack Sunday Evening(submit your post here)

Gypsy - Wordy Wednesday

It's Gypsy here. Just a quick note to reassure everycat that I haven't lost my collar - Mum decided to try for some artistic but tasteful photos of me without my collar to see how they turned out.

Gypsy - Mancat Monday

It's Gypsy, just chilling out on a long weekend...well, I guess this is what I do most days. I'm just a little more tired today after spending time yesterday instructing my little sister in the art of playing with the feather wand.

Exercise on Sunday and an Award!

It's Gypsy here, chilling out after Australia's national day. Like our friend Pablo wrote on his blog yesterday, Australia Day commemorates the coming of cats to Australia 220 years ago. Nowadays, there's a lot of BBQing of meat that happens on this day, which is great for us cats, since we love eating meat. However, all that eating means that a little exercise on the day after the BBQ is a good idea. As senior cat, I felt it was part of my duty to offer a little instruction to Tasha.

Here I am showing my little sister the correct technique for playing with a feather wand.

Here is Tasha demonstrating her own skills (after instruction by me) with the feather wand:Diamond, a Russian Blue kitty in Adelaide, South Australia very kindly gave us the Bloggers of the World Award:

This award was originally created by Colin at Life. He said when he created it that all people had to do was link back to him as the original point of reference.

Thank you to Diamond for passing this Award onto us. We'd like to pass this onto the following international bloggers:

• Sleeping Mommy who juggles kids, dog, cats (Mo & Jasmine) and husband along with updating her blog.


• Kitikata-san who is a ginger girl kitty like Tasha.


• Boots, DeeDee and Dexter (Cats) and Freckles the dog at Boots and the Interlopers. They're fairly new bloggers like us.

For more cat blogging, try these links:

Board the Friday Ark at The Modulator

Weekend Cat Blogging #138 Jan 26-27The Tuxie Cats at Tuxedo Gang Hideout(see the week’s host to enter your WCB post in the comments for the weekend roundup)

Bad Kitty Cats Festival of Chaos Pet & The Bengal Brats at Pet’s Garden Blog• Optional Theme - Feathers Or Birds

Carnival of the Cats #202 is going to Bad Kitty Cats Sunday Evening

Gypsy - Wordless Wednesday

Take That! on Tabby Tuesday

Take that, big brother!

It's Tasha here, just sharing my best straight left paw with my big brother. I've been practising my best fake pro-wrestling moves on my big brother. He called me yellow! I couldn't believe it - I'm ginger, not yellow. Then he said, "Oh no, I meant that you're a chicken...", so I went "Whap"...and we started chasing each other around the yard until we forgot what started everything off. Just another day in our life. Ciao, kitties.

Oh, and credit where credit is due - to further refine my technique, I've been following the online whapping lessons of the famous "Whapinator", also know as Sammy Meezer - he's an excellent teacher, and I can recommend checking his blog for regular whapping tips.

Mancat Monday - Charity Auction & Vale, Caesar

It's Gypsy here, in a reflective mood...This is a picture of me sitting on the driveway at my place.

I could be looking out to see what I can do for the Foreclosure Cats from Cincinnati, Ohio. The full details of the over 60 abandoned cats can be found at the website. There are still about 20 left waiting to be adopted. Part of the fundraising towards their care has been done by having an Art Fundraiser Auction on Ebay. Here is a link to the auction. Alternatively, you can use the advance search on eBay and input "Foreclosure Cats". There is about 2.5 days left to run on all of these auctions. Here is a quote from the website explaining how these artworks were created: "The Foreclosure Cats Project artwork celebrates the beautiful, individual spirit of each precious cat, and a huge debt of thanks is owed to the talented artists from around the country who donated their fantastic representations of these creatures to raise funds for their continued support and care." If there's anything there that takes your fancy, then remember that the proceeds will go to a very worthy cause.

Given my own advancing years, I could also be reflecting on the legacy of that magnificient almost 17 year old "Tuxie Tiger", Caesar. While I didn't know him personally, it's evident that he was greatly loved, and will be missed by his littermate Princess and his human family.



This graphic is courtesy of Skeezix, and he's given anycat permission to use it.